neigh
Americanverb (used without object)
-
neighs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
neighed,
past participle, past
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neighing
present participle
noun
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neighs
plural
noun
verb
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(intr) to make a neigh or a similar noise
-
(tr) to utter with a sound like a neigh
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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neighsimple
-
neighssimple
-
have neighedperfect
-
has neighedperfect
-
am neighingprogressive
-
are neighingprogressive
-
is neighingprogressive
-
have been neighingperfect progressive
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has been neighingperfect progressive
Past
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neighedsimple
-
had neighedperfect
-
was neighingprogressive
-
were neighingprogressive
-
had been neighingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of neigh
before 1000; Middle English ney ( gh ) en, Old English hnǣgan, cognate with Middle Dutch neyen, Old Saxon hnēgian, Middle High German nēgen, Old High German hneigen, Old Norse hneggja; akin to Old Saxon hnechian; Middle Dutch nighen, Middle Low German nigen, Middle High German nyhen; and, with intrusion in the initial, Old Norse gneggja, Norwegian kneggja. See nag 2
Explanation
The sound that a horse makes is called a neigh. A horse's happy neigh is sometimes a greeting to other horses. You can use neigh to talk about the noise your horse makes, also known as a whinny or a bray. Neigh is also a verb: horses neigh cheerfully or in frustration, and your little brother might like to ride a broomstick wildly around the house and neigh. The word comes from the Old English hnægan, which is most likely imitative of the actual sound of a neigh. In other words, it's an example of onomatopoeia — when a word sounds like what it means.
Vocabulary lists containing neigh
Inside Out & Back Again
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"The Railway Train" by Emily Dickinson
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Even on the backside, it seemed like any other race day: Workers tended to horses who let out the occasional neigh.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2023
In another, Catherine answers he insult of the horse business by gamely grinning as she replies, "I wanted to. But the horse said no, and neigh means nay!"
From Salon ● May 15, 2020
They knew their jobs and did them with nary a peep, bark or neigh.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 15, 2019
The horse gave a short snort and neigh, then paced around the equestrian center, one of eight shelters for animals affected by the Sand fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2016
Then there was a wild neigh and the horse plunged off in the dark, the crisp, frantic clanking of metal and the stomping of hooves followed me to the door.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Yes, he neighs and whinnies and you can ride him and, as Woody notes, he gallops like the wind.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Eardrums drenched in the whirring neighs of 1,000 mechanical horses.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2024
The natural vistas and the rhythmic clomping of the steed beneath you can indeed be lulling, but then suddenly Bismarck gets spooked by something and jerks and neighs.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 7, 2017
He has Denise play the girl, and he plays the horse, communicating only in whinnies and neighs.
From The Verge ● Oct. 2, 2014
Do you love a spurred horse rather than a ducker, that neighs and scrapes?
From A Select Collection of Old English Plays Volume 14 of 15 by Robert Dodsley
Horses neighed in terror, dogs stared into space, transfixed by the tremors, and in Central Park, an Egyptian obelisk “trembled from apex to pedestal,” according to a New York Times article dated Aug. 11, 1884.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
He neighed and neighed, his high whinny carrying with the wind.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2017
The horses neighed and slowed, but they couldn’t stop in time, and they collided into the first car.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 21, 2014
The animals neighed at each other and sometimes raised up their front legs, causing fear and pandemonium.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 21, 2014
A little ways back, a horse neighed loudly.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
A hue, a cry, a gnashing of teeth and maybe the angry neighing of horses will be heard across the land at the debut of the newly redecorated “Little House on the Prairie.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Across from them in their usual stalls stood the eight neighing horses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025
They are the ghosts of our future, neighing for us to follow them.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2018
“When I started neighing instead of shouting, ‘Action!’ — well, that’s when I decided it was time for a change.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2013
At the top of the bank the horse halted and turned about neighing fiercely.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
